Ukraine EU talks must go on despite Hungary veto, says Costa
European Council President António Costa (photo: Getty Images)
Negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union must continue despite Hungary's veto, European Council President António Costa said during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Uzhhorod.
"In any case, the negotiation process continues and must continue. We cannot lose this path. We must continue working on reforms. We should not wait for Hungary, because Ukraine's future is in the EU, that is undeniable," Costa said.
He also noted that it is certainly necessary to accelerate the arrival of peace in Ukraine.
"But there are no reasons not to continue negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU, because it takes a long time. The war will end before the conclusion of the accession negotiations, so there are no reasons now to lose time," the President of the European Council emphasized.
Costa added that it is possible to do two things at the same time – to fight for peace and to move forward in the very demanding negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
Hungary blocks Ukraine's accession to the EU
The European Union cannot start accession negotiations with Ukraine solely because of Hungary's position. Budapest has vetoed the start of negotiations.
At the same time, Lithuania recently proposed a plan to start accession negotiations without Hungary's consent. According to Vilnius' idea, the technical launch of the negotiations can be carried out at the level of 26 member states of the bloc.
In turn, Ukraine expects that the EU countries will make a decision on starting accession negotiations in the near future.
